Land-grabbing, illegal sand-mining, and the iron grip over Sunamganj’s wetlands — these are just a few of the dark allegations that people whisper about former Awami League MP Mouazzam Hossain Ratan.
Locals recount tales of how Ratan amassed his fortune by instilling fear. Even after his party’s fall, they prefer to remain anonymous, fearing the long shadow of his influence.
Sunamganj, a region teeming with water bodies, including wetlands and fishery estates, is a land of natural wealth. The district and upazila administrations lease these water bodies to the fishermen’s cooperative association, the Matsyajibi Samabay Samity. Yet, locals allege that Ratan, his relatives, and followers control the entire process from behind the scenes.
Sunai, one of the largest fishery estates in the district, was reportedly under the control of Ratan and his younger brother Mozammel Hossain Rokon, former chairman of Dharmapasha upazila parishad and president of upazila Jubo League.
On January 7, a fisherman named Shyamacharan Barman was brutally killed while guarding the estate for the fishermen’s cooperative association. Another 15 to 20 people were injured in the attack.
Shyamacharan’s son, Chandan Barman, filed a complaint accusing Ratan, Rokon, and their elder brother Mobarak Hossain Masud, then religious affairs secretary of the upazila Awami League. However, police allegedly did not record the case because the complaint contained Ratan’s name.
Masud was arrested on October 5 this year after a Shramik Federation leader filed a case with Dharmapasha Police Station, alleging that Masud extorted nearly Tk 200,000 from the federation—Tk 1,500 a month for over a decade.
Several locals, including politicians, journalists, cultural activists, and teachers in Ratan’s constituency Sunamganj-1, allege that the former lawmaker, through his men, was involved in the illegal lifting of sand and stones from rivers, causing significant environmental damage.
“Illegal lifting of stone and sand has almost destroyed the Jadukata river at Tahirpur upazila,” a local primary school teacher told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.
A cultural activist and a local journalist from Sunamganj, who also wished to remain unnamed, said Ratan’s men were involved in destroying the ecology and biodiversity of haor and riverine areas through encroachment and illegal lifting of sands and stones, with the help of the local administration.
District administration officials declined to comment on the allegations against Ratan, saying they have been recently transferred to the area. Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ileas Mia stated that he would look into all the allegations against Ratan.
Ratan, his family members, and followers did not even feel the need for secrecy in carrying out their misdeeds during the one and a half decades of Awami League rule.
In 2023, Ratan brazenly instructed his men at a public meeting in Dharmapasha to vandalise eight shops on the land of a local temple, as he wished to build a school named after his father there.
Ratan has been on the run since the AL was ousted on August 5. Attempts to contact him over the phone have failed.
GRAND MANSION
Ratan faces numerous allegations of land grabbing, including a piece to build a grand mansion, Haor Bangla, in his village Naodhar in Dharmapasha upazila. He allegedly built the house by grabbing 62 decimals of land belonging to two other individuals.
Locals allege that he constructed boundary walls encircling the land to include it in his property. Although a sign on the gate of the building reads that it was constructed in 2006, locals claim Ratan built this spectacular house only after becoming an MP. The affidavit he submitted to the Election Commission before the 2008 polls supports the locals’ claim, as there was no mention of this house in the affidavit.
Altu Miah, a resident of the area, said he owned 32 decimals of the land on which Haor Bangla was built. “After grabbing the land worth Tk 75 lakh, he [Ratan] forced me to complete registration of the land and gave me Tk 3 lakh only,” the 60-year-old told The Daily Star. He also alleged that Ratan’s men grabbed over 300 decimals of his farmland worth crores of taka.
Altu said he was running four cases to get his land back. “Ratan’s men are still in possession of all my land even after the Awami League government’s fall, while I cannot return to my village Gachhtola out of fear,” he added.
Bikash Ranjan Sarkar, who locals said lost 30 decimals of land to Ratan for Haor Bangla, could not be contacted for comments.
Backed by Ratan, his brothers and men allegedly grabbed acres of government land in Madhyanagar Upazila town and constructed several buildings. Locals also alleged that Ratan’s men built a residential area named Bashundhara on government land.
Ratan, a consulting businessman in 2008, became a shareholder in five companies, including garments and power, but claimed in affidavits submitted to the Election Commission that his income decreased. In 2008, he showed the value of his movable property at Tk 1.14 crore, which increased to Tk 3.51 crore in 2024. The value of his immovable property increased from Tk 73.4 lakh to Tk 3.21 crore, even after he sold land worth Tk 1.12 crore.
MONEY LAUNDERING
Ratan also faces allegations of money laundering and acquiring illegal assets beyond his known sources of income since winning the Sunamganj-1 seat, comprising Dharmapasha, Tahirpur, Madhyanagar, and Jamalganj upazilas, in 2008.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating the former Awami League MP since 2019 after his close relations with expelled Jubo League leader GK Shamim came to light. Shamim was arrested during the anti-casino operations in 2019 on charges of extortion and tender manipulation. He was later sentenced to life in prison for possession of illegal arms and 10 years for laundering Tk 195 crore to Singapore and Malaysia.
The ACC issued a travel ban for Ratan in October 2019 after finding evidence of money laundering. In 2020, it sought the bank information of Ratan and his wife Mahmuda Hossain Lata over allegations of embezzling government funds, laundering money, and amassing property beyond known sources of income. Ratan also faced ACC interrogation in February 2020.
A Dhaka court in June 2021 imposed a travel ban on Ratan and five others during an investigation into their alleged illegal wealth.
RESENTMENT IN AWAMI LEAGUE
Even local Awami League leaders were unhappy with Ratan’s activities. Dharamapasha Upazila Awami League Joint General Secretary Shamim Ahmed Murad, who was later elected as the Upazila chairman, had previously alleged that Ratan grabbed pieces of public and private land. Sanjib Talukdar, chairman of Madhyanagar Sadar Union, had earlier described Ratan as the “godfather of extortion in Sunamganj”.
Murad and Sanjib could not be contacted since they were on the run after their party’s fall.
Ratan lost the AL’s ticket to freshly nominated candidate Ranjit Chandra Sarker in the 2024 polls. He also lost the election to Ranjit after running as an independent. Still, Ratan remained loyal to the Awami League to save his property amassed through alleged crimes.
On September 2, a case was filed against Ratan and 98 others in connection with an attack on protesters in Sunamganj on August 2, three days before the Awami League’s fall. Another case was filed against Ratan, his brothers, and his men on September 8 for assaulting two persons during the last upazila parishad polls.
Ratan and Rokon drew flak from AL leaders after the two brothers’ portraits were attached to murals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Dharmapasha by changing the original plan. The High Court in January last year expressed annoyance over the installation of their portraits, calling it serious misconduct and ordering the local administration to remove the portraits from the murals.
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